Explosive metal forming

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Introduction:
i s t he shapi ng of bl ock s or sheet met al by qui ck l y
appl yi ng ener gy t o t hem f or a r el at i v el y shor t
i nt er val of t i me.
i s a met al f or mi ng t echni que t hat uses t he
ener gy gener at ed by an ex pl osi v e det onat i on t o
f or m t he met al w or k pi ece. Thi s pr ocess can
del i ver a gr eat deal of f l ex i bi l i t y i n t he met al -
f or mi ng pr ocess.
To cold shape sheet or plat e int o a
die and indeed t o free- form it . A
charge of high explosive ( e. g TNT)
eit her as a point or a dist ribut ed
charge is St ood off from t he work
piece and t hen det onat ed. This
operat ion is carried out under wat er.
Large st eel plat es of 3. 6m diamet er
and 25 mm t hick were dished by t his
met hod using about 50 kg of explosive
.
The simplified scheme of t he process
is pict ured in Fig. 1. The energy
releasing upon explosion of high
explosive subst ance act s direct ly or
t hrough a conduct ive medium ( wat er)
on a sheet billet and deform it t o fit
t he die profile.
The waves generat ed at dynamic
forming cont ribut e t o oscillat ory
pressure change in a basin t hat
produce beneficial effect on
deformat ion process.
Fi g. 1
( Fi g. 2) Ex pl osi ve f or mi ng set up
Set up
The sy st em used f or st andof f di st ance oper at i on consi st of : -
An ex pl osi v e char ge.
An ener gy t r ansmi t t ed medi um ( w at er , ai r , oi l ) .
A di e assembl y .
The w or k pi ece.
Fi gur e 2 show s an ar r angement of st andof f di st ance ex pl osi ve
f or mi ng oper at i on. The di e assembl y i s put t oget her on t he
bot t om of t he t ank . Wor k pi ece i s pl aced on t he di e and bl ank
hol der pl aced above. A vacuum i s t hen cr eat ed i n t he di e
cavi t y . The ex pl osi ve char ge pl aced i n posi t i on over t he cent er
of t he w or k pi ece. The ex pl osi ve char ge i s suspended over t he
bl ank at a pr edet er mi ned di st ance. The compl et e assembl y i s
i mmer sed i n a t ank of w at er .
Af t er t he det onat i on of ex pl osi ve , a pr essur e pul se of hi gh
i nt ensi t y i s pr oduced. A gas bubbl e i s al so pr oduced w hi ch
ex pands spher i cal l y and t hen col l apse unt i l i t vent s at t he
sur f ace of t he w at er . When t he pr essur e pul se i mpi nges
agai nst t he w or k pi ece, t he met al i s di spl aced i nt o t he di e
cavi t y .
Ex pl osi v es
Explosives are subst ances t hat undergo rapid
under chemical react ion during which heat and
large quant it ies of gaseous product s are creat ed.
Explosive can be solid ( T. N. T- t rinit rot oluene) ,
liquid ( Nit roglycerine) or gaseous ( Oxygen and
acet ylene mixt ures) .
Explosive are divided int o t wo classes; Low
explosive in which t he ammunit ion burns rapidly
rat her t han exploding, hence pressure build up is
not large, and High explosive which have high
rat e of react ion wit h a large pressure build up.
Low explosives are generally used as propellant s
in guns and rocket s for t he propelling of missile.
Di e mat er i al s
Different mat erials are used for t he manufact ure
of t he dies for explosive working, for inst ance
high st rengt h t ool st eels , plast ics, concret e.
Relat ively low st rengt h dies are used for short
run it ems and for part s where close t olerance are
not crit ical, while for longer runs higher st rengt h
die mat erials are required. plast ic faced dies are
employed for light forming operat ion, cast st eels,
and duct ile iron for medium requirement s,
fiberglass for low pressure and few part s,
fiberglass and concret e for low pressure and
large part s and epoxy wit h concret e for low
pressure and large part s.
Tr ansmi ssi on medi um
Energy released by t he explosive is
t ransmit t ed t hrough medium like wat er, air,
oil, gelat in and liquid salt s. Wat er is one of
t he best media for explosive forming since
it is available readily, inexpensive and
product s excellent result s. The
t ransmission medium is import ant
regarding pressure magnit ude at t he work
piece. Wat er is more desirable medium
t han air for producing high peak pressures
t o t he work piece.
Formability aspects
Formabilit y has been defined as t he abilit y of a
sheet met al t o be deformed by a specific sheet
met al forming process from it s original shape t o
a defined shape wit hout failure. I n normal
explosive forming operat ions, t he maj or
charact erist ics of t he work piece met al t hat
det ermine formabilit y are duct ilit y and
t oughness.
Case study of domed shape forming
The ex pl osi ve f or mi ng of domes
The explosive forming of met al blanks is accompanied by
large plast ic deformat ion at high rat e of st rain, under bi-
axial or t ri- axial st at es of st ress.
St r ai n ener gy of def or mat i on
I n order t o reach at a rat ional met hod for predict ing t he
amount of explosive charge it is necessary t o comput e
t he st rain energy of plast ic energy of plast ic deformat ion
of t he met al part of work piece: -
Where U i s st rai n energy
For most st rai n hardeni ng mat eri al s: -
K i s const ant and n i s t he st rai n hardeni ng exponent
For st rai n hardeni ng mat eri al
Using cent rally locat ed charge as shown in t he fig.3 t o
explosively form of a flat circular blank, t he dist ribut ion of
st rain across a diamet er of t he blank will vary wit h t he
rat io of st andoff dist ance, ( L) t o t he diamet er of t he die
opening, ( D) .
Fig.3
Est i mat i ng of t ot al st r ai n ener gy and t he w ei ght
char ge r equi r ed f or an ex pl osi vel y f or med dome i n
si ngl e shot .
h
o
= initial blank thickness
w
1
= max. deflection
R = radius of curvature of the segment of the sphere
h = final thickness of deformed blank
R
2
= (D/2)
2
+(R-w
1
)
2
The surface area of a segment of sphere = 2Rw
Volume of deformed material is constant (D
2
/4) h
o
=2Rwh
hence ..
2 2
2
4w D
D
h
h
o
+

= radial strain

= circumferential strain
t
= thickness strain
For incompressible
r

+
t
=0

,
`

.
|

,
`

.
|
+
2
4 1 ln
D
w
h
dh
d
t t

r

We assume uniform strain

=

,
`

.
|

,
`

.
|
+
2
4 1 ln
D
w
eff

1
2
2
4 1 ln
1 4
+

'

'

,
`

.
|

,
`

.
|
+
+

n
o
D
w
n
K
h
D
U

In order to determine the quantity of explosive required .
The total strain energy of the deformation U should be
equated the total explosive energy E
T
.
We E
T
) cos 1 (
2
1
1

Where
W=mass of charge
e=specific energy of charge (from table)
) / ( 7 . 3 23 . 4
1
1
D L

for L/D <0.5

) / ( 83 . 2 02 . 4
1
1
D L

for L/D <1

Conclusions and disruptions
In explosive metal forming chemical energy from the
explosive is used to generate shock waves through a medium
which are direct to the work piece at very high velocities. This
process was mostly used to form large and bulky
components typically for military and aerospace components
and now can be used for small parts with complex shapes
and low capital investment also the ability to vary energy
levels over wide ranges provides greater capabilities than
conventional forming methods. The process can be achieved
by the simplest requirements such as one side die, the work
piece and an explosive charge.
Beside all advantage with some limitations and although it is
not new process but one feel that the information about
explosive forming is still not enough, may be due to the
difficulty of understanding what happens exactly during the
process so someone trying to simulate the method, another
reason is dealing with explosive so the information are not
available and forbidden.
To provide a fully picture about
explosive forming there must be
additional information available.